News In Brief

There probably aren't many people who'd be willing to try what Betty Sue Schaughency, the superintendent of Beaver Area School District in western Pennsylvania, has done. Officially, she retired this week, although she plans to stay on the job five more years, collecting only an as-yet-unspecified pension. Meanwhile, at her request, her annual salary - $92,400 - will be used to help pay for school construction. "This is one way," she said, "to give back to the community."

Miklos Temesvari, the coach of Albania's SK Tirana soccer club, was so appalled by his players' tardiness that he ordered fines for latecomers. The clampdown didn't exactly go as planned. The first transgressor was ... himself. But, reports say, Temesvari didn't try to excuse his two-minute-late arrival. Instead, he dug out his wallet and ponied up the cash.

Calls for campaign-finance reform presume that "powerful special interests" have a disproportionate influence in politics because they give the most generously to the major parties and candidates. Yet, the latest data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show an almost even distribution among the 100 largest givers in this election cycle between those strongly or solidly Republican (31) and those strongly or solidly Democratic (30). Another 16 are rated "on the fence" and the rest "lean" one way or the other. The top 10, their donations (in millions), and their strong partisan preference, according to CRP: